Telegraph View: To lose the iconic blue plaques would be a tragedy - to
do so unnecessarily would be a crime.

Over the past century and a half, London’s blue plaques have weathered depression and redevelopment, boom and bust, anchoring the ever-changing present of our capital in its complex and engrossing past. It is not just the world’s oldest such project – it is, as Harry Mount argues elsewhere on these pages, one of the glories of Britain.

Now, however, English Heritage intends to mothball the scheme – a step previously reserved for the privations of wartime. True, its budget is tight, but given the plaques’ history, and relatively low cost, it is shocking that some way of keeping them going cannot be found. There must be a suspicion that the decision springs, in part, from a desire to dramatise the impact of government cuts. We hope that is not the case. To lose this icon of British heritage would be a tragedy; for it to happen unnecessarily would be a crime.